Wetland Soils
Soils found in wetlands are called hydric soils. Hydric soils exist when an area is saturated, flooded, or ponded for so long during the growing season that the upper soil level is without oxygen.
There are two types of wetlands soils:
Organic Soils
- defined by depth and content of organic matter
- dark, oozy, consisting of plant remains
- also called:
- peat (brown to black soil containing still recognizable decomposed plants) and
- muck (greasy and black when moist and almost liquid when wet containing decomposed plants beyond recognition)
Mineral Soils
- contain less than 20% organic matter
- 2 major characteristics:
- gleying, which results from prolonged saturation and appears green or blue-gray in color
- redoximorphic features, which are small spots of various shapes and colors that indicate the presence of iron oxide or manganese oxide (dependent on the length of the saturation period)